


everybody hail to the pumpkin song

by cryptidsoap



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, M/M, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, all in one night, this is going to be a wild ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 02:45:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12572016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptidsoap/pseuds/cryptidsoap
Summary: Mingyu was determined to win this year's Halloween Costume Contest. He just didn't expect for his rival showing up dressed as the same thing as him.





	everybody hail to the pumpkin song

**Author's Note:**

> happy halloween folks!!! i wasnt going to post this. its currently 2am of oct 31st for me and 4 hours ago i decided to post a halloween drabble so here it is. it was a little intense writing this in one sitting but yea what is life without a little challenge
> 
> title is from "this is halloween" from the nightmare before christmas' soundtrack and has nothing to do with the plot i just wanted a fun halloween title
> 
> enjoy!!

Mingyu hadn't signed up for this.

Every year since college started he had attended the campus Halloween party. Every year he had put a lot of effort into coming up with a costume idea and making the costume himself. Every year he had participated in the costume competition with the coolest costumes ever.

And every year he had earned second place.

Because the judges thought that Minghao's costumes were better than his.

He didn't know Minghao and he was sure he was probably a good guy, but there was no way Minghao's zombie Red Riding Hood costume was better than Mingyu's Riddler last year. There was absolutely _no way_ Minghao's Harajuku-ish fairy was better than Mingyu's Twelfth Doctor the year before that.

So, this year, Mingyu decided to go classic. He sewed himself a full Victorian vampire costume — vest, cape, all that jazz. If he couldn't win with his beloved nerd characters, he was going to win with the ultimate Halloween cliche.

Mingyu arrived at the party 10 minutes after it's start, hair gelled back exposing his forehead, fake blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, cape swooshing, he even hand-crafted fake fangs to make the costume more realistic. He received a few looks of approval and a couple of winks, which he gladly returned. He knew he looked good that night, and the other costumes were looking a little basic, so his hopes about winning this year's contest were up.

So imagine his surprise when he saw none other than Xu Minghao, his potential rival, dressed as a vampire as well.

Fortunately, it wasn't a classic vampire like Mingyu's costume. He would've thrown a fit if they were dressed like a pair of vases. No, Minghao's outfit was a little more modern, fashion-forward... punk. He was a punk vampire.

It didn't make sense in Mingyu's mind. A punk vampire sounded a little redundant. He was trying to focus on the many reasons why the costume didn't make sense rather than on the boy wearing it, because he didn't want to face the truth, which was:

Minghao looked _good_.

Amazingly good.

And there was no way the flip Mingyu's stomach did when he saw his rival was due to biological reasons.

First of all, Minghao's hair was dyed silver. That itself was already a work of art. It complimented his face and bounced a little when he moved — it was endearing. Not to mention it was kind of ironic for someone dressed as a vampire to have silver hair, so the choice of color was also clever.

Second of all, the costume itself. Mingyu wanted to scream, because _how can someone look so good in all black_? His skinny jeans had a lot of rips and holes and he was wearing fishnets under them. He had a leather jacket over his _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ t-shirt, which was half-tucked inside the jeans. It shouldn't look that good, but it did. The look was complimented by a lot of jewelry, which included some spikes and chains, a goth-ish necklace, and Mingyu's favorite (not that he would admit it): an inverted cross earring.

As if all of that wasn't enough, Minghao's makeup was gorgeous. He had gone for the smokey eyes and red lips, paired with fake fangs and (already dried) fake blood smeared all over — a little on his neck, cheek, some on his hands, and a huge stain on the corner of his mouth, as if he had wiped it with a hand.

He looked good.

Mingyu really, _really_ hadn't signed up for this.

When the time for the contestants to have their costumes judged came, Mingyu made sure to stand far from Minghao. He told himself it was because two vampires side-by-side would be too much on the eyes, and, ok, that was part of the reason; but, deep down, the truth was that Mingyu didn't want to stand too close to the other boy and have his gaze gravitate towards him, because he knew that was what was going to happen.

So they stood in a line, Mingyu, Minghao, a kid dressed as Harry Potter, the yearly quota of Harley Quinns, one very poorly executed Optimus Prime, someone dressed as the Dancing Pumpkin guy (you know the one), a cute couple as Sally and Jack Skellington, one Dr. Frank-n-Furter and one Daenerys Targaryen with a dragon balloon.

The MC, a second-year called Boo Seungkwan, started announcing the contestant's names and calling them forward, kind of like a runway, so the judges could see the costume from a better angle. The contestants were allowed to do a small performance if they wanted to compliment their costumes. The Harry Potter kid did a small skit, the Jack and Sally couple performed a duet and the pumpkin guy, obviously, did the famous dance.

Mingyu didn't do anything, and neither did Minghao. They both wanted to rely solely on the costumes. When Minghao was called forward, Mingyu noticed the word "sucker" embroidered on the back of his jacket — the boy did a little twirl to make sure the judges saw it too. Clever.

Mingyu hated it.

After all the names were called, Seungkwan announced the little break for the judges to deliberate the results and for the contestants to "mingle". A group dressed as the kids from Stranger Things approached the Dr. Frank-n-Furter and each one gave her a high-five. A Poison Ivy gave one of the Harley Quinns a kiss on the cheek and a Spiderman handed Daenerys a bottle of beer. She thanked him and slapped his ass, so Mingyu assumed they were friends.

He was nursing his own drink, a colorful mix of soda and grape juice — tonight was a serious day, no room for getting drunk —, when he felt someone plopping down on the couch beside him. He looked at the person, stiffening when he saw it was Minghao. He cursed himself for thinking he looked even better up close.

"So", the silver-haired boy smiled. "It's funny that we're matching this year."

"We're not matching."

"We kind of are." he sat a little closer and grabbed a handful of Mingyu's cape. "We're both vampires, just from different eras. This cape is so cool, dude. Where did you get it?"

Mingyu snatched the fabric from his hands. "I made it myself."

"No way."

"Yes way. And I'd appreciate if you kept your hands to yourself, thank you very much."

"Feisty, aren't we?" Minghao chuckled. "Relax, I won't ruin it on purpose if that's what you're thinking."

"What I'm thinking is why are you talking to me if we don't know each other."

"Well, _Mingyu_ , I've told you already. I found it curious that we both chose to be vampires this year."

"You know my name?"

"And you know mine." the younger shrugged. "The contestants are called by their names, remember?"

"Y-Yeah." Mingyu sighed, suddenly feeling a little dumb because of his question.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you hate me because I've won this competition for the last two years? Do you think we're rivals or something?"

"I don't hate you-"

"But you do have this little rivalry thing going on in your head, don' you?"

Mingyu crossed his arms, defeated. "I guess."

"Well, I'm not against a little healthy competition, and I'm definitely not against winning this contest for the third time in a row, but let me tell you this: I think you're gonna win his one."

The taller spluttered. "Why?"

"Just a hunch, and a good one if the way some of the ladies from the judges' table were looking at you is anything to go by." he patted Mingyu on the back. "You really do look great tonight, you know." he got up from he couch. "My friend is calling me. See you at the podium."

With one last smile, Minghao was gone, leaving Mingyu's brain to fry all by itself. Had he really complimented Mingyu? Not only that, had he really said he thought Mingyu was going to win the contest?

He didn't have much time to dwell on these thoughts, because Seungkwan had called the contestants to the makeshift stage they had put up for the awarding ceremony.

The third place was given to the Jack and Sally couple. They received their medals and shared a small kiss, extracting multiple variations of _"aww"'s_ from the audience.

Second place was given to Dr. Frank-n-Furter. She bowed exageratedly after receiving the medal. The Stranger Things Squad, as Mingyu had dubbed them, cheered the loudest.

There was only one place left. He knew it would be either him or Minghao, and, in all honesty, he wasn't ready to lose. For some reason, he took the contest very seriously. Seungkwan opened his mouth to announce the first place. Mingyu closed his eyes.

"And the winner is... Well, more like _the winners are_. We decided to grant the gold medal to our two amazingly fashionable, exceptionally spooky and excrutiatingly handsome vampires, Mingyu and Minghao!"

_What?_

_Both of them won?_

_He won first place alongside his rival?_

There was a hand on Mingyu's shoulder. "I told you you were gonna take this one home, didn't I?"

Mingyu could only nod, and, before he knew it, he was hugging Minghao and spinning him around. When he realized what he was doing, he put the younger back on the ground and took a step back.

"Sorry." he mumbled. "But hey, we won!"

"You did!" Seungkwan approached them with a camera. "Now, a picture of the winners for the university's weekly paper. Stay in character, boys."

Both vampires stood side by side. Mingyu looked away from the camera and held the cuff of his right sleeve in a posh manner. He felt Minghao rest his right elbow on his left shoulder, and later would find out that his right hand was pushing the silver strands of hair back, while his other hand was flipping off the camera. The smoulder eyes directed to the lens were just the icing on top.

When they were dismissed, Mingyu walked away from the other boy, not wanting to hang around after that awkward post-winning moment. A hand on his wrist stopped him from going farther.

"What?" Mingyu asked, a little exasperated.

"Wanna hang out?"

All it took was a simple smile from Minghao and Mingyu was sure he was a goner.

-•-

Mingyu didn't know how they had ended up outside of the host's house, sitting by the pool. They were so enrolled on their conversation, lost in their little world, that they just noticed where they were when Mingyu almost fell on the water.

"Careful, dumbass." Minghao laughed, yanking the other's arm and bringing him closer. "Don't ruin your self-crafted costume."

"Shut up, asshole. Let me live."

"Do you think we look drunk?"

Mingyu took in their joined hands, wrinkled clothes and silly laughter.

"Yeah. I think we do."

"Good, because now I have an excuse to do _this_!" Minghao scooped a handful of water from the pool and threw it at Mingyu's head, fluffing up his previously gelled hair. "Hair gel is _booooring_!" he sing-songed, smile never leaving his lips. Mingyu was, for the lack of a better word, stunned.

So, of course, his brain-to-mouth filter stopped working.

"You're really cute." he blurted out. "Like, painfully cute. And your hair makes you look like a prince." he leaned in to press a chaste kiss on Minghao's blushing cheeks, hiding his face between his hands after pulling back. He only uncovered his face when he felt a head resting on his shoulder carefully, and looked down at Minghao while the latter spoke up.

"I think you're cuter. You're always so dedicated to this contest it stopped being silly and started being cool. When you walked in as the Twelfth Doctor two years ago, my heart skipped a beat. And, if anyone's the prince, that's you." he tilted his head up and pressed a light kiss to Mingyu's jaw. He melted.

Mingyu's right hand went to cup Minghao's face, thumb brushing the younger's cheekbone. They leaned closer, and closer, and closer—

Minghao's phone buzzed.

"Seriously?" he complained, and unlocked the phone to see what it was. Turns out it was a text from Junhui, his cousin, and his ride home. "Uh, I need to leave. My cousin's driving me home. Sorry." he smiled sheepishly. They both got up from the ground.

"It's okay." Mingyu hugged him, smoothing his hair and hoping he wasn't being too cheesy when he kissed Minghao's forehead. "Text me?"

"I will."

They exchanged phone numbers and bid their goodbyes. Before Mingyu could turn around, though, Minghao pressed their lips together.

It was a quick peck, just a touch, before te younger ran to a car parked on the driveway.

It took Mingyu two minutes to process what had just happened, and five to actually move from the spot he stood on.

 

 

  
The next year, their friends asked if they were entering the Halloween contest as a couple. They just exchanged a look before responding that no, they would be competing against each other like they always have.

Old habits die hard.

**Author's Note:**

> heyyyy hope you liked this mess!!!! its not relevant to the story but the "poorly executed Optimus Prime" was actually Seungcheol. sorry dude  
> pumpkin guy was Soonyoung  
> and junhui was dressed as a magician (he had a little bunny attached to his tophat)
> 
> (outside of mingyu's biased opinion, minghao's zombie red riding hood was indeed better than gyu's riddler. the fairy and the 12th doctor were on the same level tho)
> 
> also can i just mention that minghao in a rocky horror picture show tshirt is my aesthetic?? thank you
> 
> so yea tysm for reading!!! feedback is appreciated ✨


End file.
